Probe into Panay Island brownouts sought in Senate
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into the power outages affecting residents and economic activities in Panay Island.
Poe filed Senate Resolution 579, directing appropriate committees to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the power situation on Panay Island “with the end view of ensuring continuous supply of electricity to consumers.”
“These recurring power interruptions and massive blackouts have plagued Panay Island for several years now and severely impacted not only the daily lives of the people of Panay but also the economic activities in the region,” said Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public services.
Poe stressed there is an urgent need to determine the cause of grid disturbances and those who should be held liable for the power outages to “put an end to the blame-shifting” between the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and the distribution utilities as well as implement remedial measures.
NGCP recently detected several grid disturbances that led to power outages in some areas of the island. Meanwhile, Central Negros Electric Cooperative reported a voltage fluctuation and frequency imbalance in a line managed by NGCP.
“There is also a need to look into the long-term solutions to the power interruptions and outages within the backdrop of the 'thin' supply of power in the Visayas grid," she added.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Sunday that the government will take part in addressing power outages in the islands of Negros and Panay, but it will not resort to a takeover to solve the problem.
Last week, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into the power supply crisis in Occidental Mindoro. — Gaea Katreena Cabico with report from The STAR/Alexis Romero
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